Potworks Dam

BW

Drinking Water Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the Caribbean; Delapps Water Treatment Plant; Important Bird Area

The Potworks Dam is a reservoir at All Saints in the southeast of the Caribbean island of Antigua. On the south bank the Delapps Water Treatment Plant, one of the major water treatment plants of the island.

Location and landscape

The lake is located a few kilometers to the east of All Saints, on the edge of the Central Plain of the island. It dams on the upper reaches the usually dry fallen Ayers Creek, which flows a few more kilometers to the east in the Nonsuch Bay the Atlantic coast of Antigua.

Function

Potworks reservoir

The lake has a length of about 2 ½ kilometers, an area of ​​about 130 acres and holds over 4 million m³ of water. This is the largest reservoir in the Caribbean. He serves the potable water supply of the island, which - in contrast to the other Caribbean islands - is suffering from drought. The Potworks reservoir contains 2 /3 of the total water storage capacity of the island ( about 7 million m³). The catchment area covers 2430 hectares (24 km ²).

Otherwise the island supplied with seawater desalination plants ( Sembcorp Antigua, Camp Blizzard, Ffryes Beach ) and of many small tanks and domestic wells. Overall, the lake holds about a half- year's supply of the island.

Delapps Water Treatment Plant

The water is the Delapps Water Treatment Plant, south of the lake against Bethesda, respectively. There is reversosmotisch prepared and then fed into the water supply of the island. The system has an 7000 cubic meters a day, which are around 20 % of the total daily intake of the island - together with the half as powerful Bendals Water Treatment Plant ( Dunning's Dam ) and some small plants represent the surface water treatment plants 1/3 of the current daily requirement.

After Delapps passes, if necessary, water from the region lying below at Ayers Creek Collins smaller reservoir as well as the other of agriculture serving Bethesda Dam in the south at the Willoughby Bay.

History

Is named the dam after a pottery (English Pottery works). Here was a farm of the Codrington family, one of the major planter families who cultivated from 18 to 20 century sugar cane. The pottery set forth earthen sugar loaves for the export of molasses - the land belongs to the heavy Lehmbodenzone the island, clips the southeast of St. John's Harbour to the Willoughby Bay.

Was built in the memory work in the later 1960s to prevent the repeated water crises. The dam was built on parts of the manufacturing plant and a bridge of the 19th century about the Ayers Creek. Shortly before the completion of the barrage in 1968 flooded a surprising Ausnahmsstarkregen the reservoir, so that the lake bed was not ready prepared. May 28, 1970, the building could be opened, a plaque recalls.

By 1974, when severe drought from January to mid-August, proved itself the dam, at the 21-month drought in 1983-85, the lake later in 1984 but fell completely dry, after which the water supply broke down entirely and drinking water had to be transported from the neighboring islands. Through desalination should not happen that.

Conservation

Due to the fluctuating water level can not form stable water life Although, the lake is become an important habitat for birds. Especially the western end of the lake is considered to be good place for bird watching. Be spotted here egret ( Snowy Egret, Egretta thula ), Cattle Egret ( Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis ) and Osprey ( Osprey, Pandion haliaetus) are residents a greater stock of Laughing Gull ( Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla ), the Brown Pelican ( Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis), but especially a small population of Kubapfeifgans ( West Indian Whistling -duck, Dendrocygna arborea ), a threatened species. You can find these and Purple -throated Hummingbird ( Purple- throated Carib, Eulampis jugularis ), Blue Star Antilles hummingbird ( Green- throated Carib, Eulampis holosericeus ), Antilles hood Hummingbird ( Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Orthorhyncus cristatus ), or White-chinned Olivtyrann ( Caribbean Elaenia, Elaenia martinica ) more endemic and rare birds.

Therefore, the lake moved soon after impoundment in the focus of nature conservation, already in the 1970s a Potworks Reservoir Wildlife Reserve ( Nicholson 1977) has been proposed. 2007 by BirdLife International on a Lake Important Bird Area ( AG010 Potworks Dam ) described with 117 ha, according to the criteria A1 ( endangered species ), A2 (local / endemic species ), A4i/B4i (at least 1 % of the population). A legally binding protection status is still pending.